Wonder Pets
Wonder Pets! is an American animated children's television series. It debuted March 3, 2006, on the Nick Jr. block of the Nickelodeon cable television network and Noggin (now Nick Jr.) on the same day. It won an Emmy Award in 2008, 2010 and 2012 for Outstanding Music Direction and Composition in the United States. History and format The Wonder Pets! television series was created by Josh Selig for Little Airplane Productions. The show was first seen as a short Nick Jr.'s film series called Linny the Guinea Pig, in which a guinea pig named Linny traveled into space and under the ocean. Ming-Ming Duckling and Turtle Tuck were created when the show was expanded and called The Super Singing Power Pets!. The title was later shortened to Wonder Pets. The show's main characters are three elementary school classroom pets — Linny the Guinea Pig, Turtle Tuck, and Ming-Ming Duckling. They are presented as a trio of heroes who rescue baby animals as they demonstrate the benefits of teamwork. The animation style used to create Wonder Pets! is called "photo-puppetry", and was created for the series to allow animators to manipulate photographs of real animals. It also uses drawn objects (not characters), so the total presentation could be considered animated mixed-media. A good deal of the dialog is sung, so the show has been likened to operetta or singspiel. A 10-member live orchestra performs each episode, sometimes including other instrumentalists skilled in music from the region to which the pets are traveling during the episode.Heffley, Lynne. "Unchained melodies: In scoring the kids' show 'The Wonder Pets!,' top-notch composers get a warm and fuzzy feeling". Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, CA. 2006-03-03. Accessed: 2011-01-11. (Archived by WebCite at WebCitation.org) Completing each episode takes thirty-three weeks from script to final delivery.Jennifer Oxley, "Meet the Creators of Wonder Pets!" Main characters * Linny the Guinea Pig (voiced by Sofie Zamchick in the US version and Meisha Kelly in the UK version) is a guinea pighttp://www.nickjr.com/wonder-pets/about-wonder-pets/wonder-pets-characters_ap.html who is the leader of the Wonder Pets. As a superhero, she wears an orange-yellow cap and a blue cape. Linny appears to be the most educated of the group, often providing different zoological and geographical information to the others. She is usually the one to remind the group about teamwork or other values and offer praise. She leads Ming-Ming and Tuck in most of the show's primary songs and usually has the responsibility of starting the "Flyboat". Linny's catch phrase is "This calls for some celery!", usually declared at the conclusion of each adventure. Before Wonder Pets, Linny starred in a few three-minute shorts on Nick Jr. titled Linny the Guinea Pig, where Linny would explore different environments such as the ocean and outer space. * Turtle Tuck (voiced by Teala Dunn in the US and Catherine Holden in the UK) is a young turtle. He is described as sensitive with an emotional connection to living things and the heart of the group. As a superhero, he wears a white French sailor's cap, blue Aquasocks, and a red cape. Tuck is empathetic, often desiring to give the rescued animals a hug or keeping them company while Linny and Ming-Ming put their rescue plan into action. He also has keen observational skills, spotting things from a distance, which often garners him the compliment, "Good eye, Tuck!". In "Tuck & Buck", his cooler older cousin Buck comes to the Wonder Pets Schoolhouse for a visit. * Ming-Ming Duckling is 3-years-old,Robert Lloyd, "'Wonder Pets!' to the rescue", Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, Calif.: Mar 3, 2006. pg. E.29. and is an overconfident young duck. As a superhero, she wears a leather pilot's helmet, goggles, and a green cape. Unlike the other Wonder Pets, she has the ability to fly. She can also speak "bird", allowing her to talk to other birds that the Wonder Pets encounter. Ming-Ming also believes that her great-grandfather was an eagle. Ming-Ming sometimes tries to take on big problems by herself and in one episode ("Save the Duckling") she even becomes the animal that needed rescuing. Ming-Ming often provides comic relief in the show, and is the Wonder Pet mostly likely to use irony and mild sarcasm. In "Kalamazoo!", during school holiday she visits her Aunt Eleanora at a local petting zoo. Ming-Ming is voiced by Danica Lee in the United States version, and Kaya Alexander in the UK version. When Lee auditioned for the role, she pronounced her "R" sounds as "W" sounds like a child would speak (as in "This is Se-wious!"). The producers said that Lee's speech impediment had an endearing quality and that young children commonly mispronounce certain sounds. Danica Lee has been nominated twice, in 2007 and 2008, for a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program.Edward Wyatt, "Nickelodeon's 'Wonder Pets' Offers Operetta for Preschoolers", New York Times, March 28, 2006. pg. E.1. Recurring characters *'Ollie' is a gray domestic rabbit that visits the Wonder Pets' school from time to time. He first appears in the episode, "Save the Skunk!". In "Adventures in Wonderland!", he plays the role of the White Rabbit and "In the Land of Oz" he plays the role of the Wizard of Oz. In "Ollie to the Rescue", he tries to create his own team the Thunder Pets consisting of himself and his toys, Rock and Mr. Frog as they do not disagree with him. However he is a terrible rescuer and ends up needing to be rescued by the Wonder Pets along with the Chipmunk he was trying to save. In one episode, it is revealed he lives in a burrow with his mother, little sister, and baby brother. Ollie was originally voiced by T.J. Stanton in "Save the Skunk!", "Ollie to the Rescue", "Here's Ollie!", but is now performed by Cooper Corrao in the United States version.Morton, Rebecca, [http://newstranscript.gmnews.com/news/2008/0820/front_page/017.html Youngster, 7, racks up acting, modeling credits], Great Media News, gmnews.som, August 20, 2008 *'Ginny' is Linny's grandmother who appears in "Save the Old White Mouse!" and "Happy Mother's Day!". In "Save the Old White Mouse!", while Linny is visiting Ginny at the nursing home another elderly resident, a white mouse named Bernie who Ginny is friends with gets stuck inside a clock and Linny calls upon her friends to help rescue him and introduces Ginny to his friends whom Ginny reveals she had been told about by Linny in letters to her. She also appears in "Happy Mother' Day!" where Linny and his friends go to wish her a happy Mother's Day. *'Baby Kitten' is a Kitten that lives in Venice, Italy that the Wonder Pets save in "Save the Kitten" after it becomes trapped on a piece of driftwood floating in the canal. Baby Kitten also appears in "Happy Mother's Day" with its mother. *'Mama Cat' is the mother of Baby Kitten that lives in Venice, Italy. In "Save the Kitten", she thanks the Wonder Pets for saving her baby by giving them some of her famous pizza which the Wonder Pets add their Celery to. She also appears in "Happy Mother's Day!", along with Baby Kitten. *'The Visitor' is an extraterrestrial being who speaks some English, as shown in his two major appearances ("Save the Visitor!" and "Save the Visitor's Birthday Party!"). He also appears in "A Job Well Done!" in a photograph. *'Baby Dragon' is a wingless dragon from the magical land located in a book inside the classroom. He first appears in "Save the Unicorn" chasing the Wonder Pets as they are trying to save a Baby Unicorn named Uni who's horn was stuck in a tree. After freeing Uni the Wonder Pets try to flee from him but they eventually discover that he is Uni's best friend and reveals he was chasing the Wonder Pets only to inform them of his friend's plight. He later appears in "Save the Dragon", where the Wonder Pets return to the magical land to save him after he gets stuck on a cloud. *'Uni' is a baby Unicorn from the magical land located in a book inside the classroom. She first appears in "Save the Unicorn" where the Wonder Pets rescue her after she gets her horn stuck in a tree. She is best friends with Baby Dragon and in "Save the Dragon" she becomes worried about her friend when he gets stuck on a cloud but the Wonder Pets return to save the day once again. *'Magical Butterfly' is a butterfly from the magical land located in a book inside the classroom. It assists the Wonder Pets by acting as their guide in the magical land in "Save the Unicorn" and "Save the Dragon". *'Little Bee' is a bee who appears in the series. Little Bee first guest stars in the Episode "Save the Bee!" where the pets shrink down to bug size, thanks to their shrinking machine, to help her collect flower nectar and make honey for the first time. She later made an appearance in "Save the Glowworm!" where she is friends with a cricket and a glowworm named Lucy, who is trying to find a talent. Her last appearance was in "The Adventures of Bee & Slug!", where she and a slug named Slug help watch the Flyboat, but then ends as an out-of-control joyride due to them sitting inside it when they weren't supposed to. *'Wingo Starfish' is a pink star fish who appeared in "Save the Beetles".Wonder Pets Goes Opera Beatles www.today.com. NBCNews.com. April 17, 2008. Archived from the original on October 27, 2014. Linny, Tuck, Ming-Ming, and Wingo Starfish all dress as the Beatles to go rescue the Beetles. References Category:Television series Category:2006 television series debuts Category:2015 television series endings Category:2000s television series Category:2010s television series Category:Nick Jr. shows Category:Television series by Viacom Category:Films, TV Shows And Wildlife Wiki